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China is planting 6.6 million hectares of new forest — almost the size of Ireland

The government of China has announced plans to plant 6.6 million hectares of forest in 2018 – that’s an area roughly the size of Ireland. As the United States forfeits its environmental leadership, China has been eager to seize the moment by taking bold action to mitigate the impact of climate change. The State Forestry Administration of China is working towards raising the total percent of the country’s territory covered by forests from 21.7 percent to 23 percent by 2020, then to 26 percent by 2030.

The massive reforestation project will be a collaboration between the Chinese government and internal and external groups that know how to get the job done. “Companies, organisations and talent that specialise in greening work are all welcome to join in the country’s massive greening campaign,” said Zhang Jianlong, head of the forestry administration. “Cooperation between government and social capital will be put on the priority list.” This latest announcement is not the only reforestation project being conducted in China. The strategy of planting trees has also been utilized to fight desertification in the Gobi Desert, with mixed results. The most recent reforestation project may have more success as it is focused on planting in regions already well suited for hosting forests.

After China declared a national emergency over pollution in 2014, the nation of nearly 1.4 billion has invested heavily in improving the health of the environment and developing clean technologies. Reforestation is one weapon in this war on pollution. In 2018, trees will primarily be planted in the northeast Hebei province, Qinghai province in the Tibetan Plateau, and in the Hunshandake Desert in the northern autonomous Inner Mongolia region. China has already spent 538 billion yuan ($82,765,920,000) on its reforestation efforts over the past five years and plans to spend much more as it transforms much of its land into forests.

3 thoughts on “China is planting 6.6 million hectares of new forest — almost the size of Ireland”

Oh one hand China is a totalitarian communist regime where individuality and personal freedoms are moot, but on the other hand they tend to listen to their scientists, they look at the long game, and they have the political will to do what needs to be done.

China is closing coal plants, installing a football field worth of solar panels every hour and investing billions into renewables. Given that the average Chinese uses 1/6 the energy that the average American uses, they're going above and beyond.....especially considering that its exploding emissions are due largely to western consumerism. Our fingerprints are all over their footprint.